JetBlue CEO outlines path to success

WORCESTER -- JetBlue CEO David J. Barger urged local business people Wednesday to support the airline, five weeks before the first JetBlue flights take off from Worcester Regional Airport.

"There's no doubt in my mind that Worcester works for us," he told the Central Mass Business Expo. "But what we need is your support."

JetBlue Airways Corp. has been growing in New England, especially in Boston, and announced in April that it would also launch service from Worcester. The airline has scheduled one daily flight to Fort Lauderdale and another to Orlando, beginning Nov. 7.

JetBlue executives expect their business in Worcester could grow as it did in Hartford, which started with the same destinations as Worcester but now has more. Mr. Barger called Hartford "wildly profitable."

"This whole region is doing so well for us," he said. "People don't want to travel a long way for an airport. They want the ease of an airport such as Worcester."

JetBlue is profitable airline, and young by industry standards, which has lower fares than some of its bigger competitors but also offers perks like extra leg room and in-flight TVs. It is known for its corporate culture, one that Mr. Barger said involves a focus on the customer. He credited the company's employees -- JetBlue has hired 19 people to work in Worcester -- with its success.

"This isn't rocket science," he said.

Worcester has struggled in recent years to hold on to passenger air service. The last carrier, charter service Direct Air, left in 2012 amid financial problems. To help JetBlue succeed where Direct Air and others have failed, the Massachusetts Port Authority and the federal, state and local governments are contributing about $1.2 million in marketing expenses and waived fees.

Mr. Barger said in an interview that while he's pleased with the support, the incentives are small compared to what JetBlue will spend to fly a $40 million aircraft twice a day to and from Worcester.

JetBlue will closely watch the first year of service in Worcester to determine if it will be successful.

Initial ticket sales have been strong, but the concern for JetBlue is what happens with bookings after the usually busy winter holiday months.

If the flights from Worcester to Florida are profitable, the airline may add destinations, starting with San Juan, Puerto Rico. Business destinations are harder to add because busy facilities like New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport are slot-controlled, Mr. Barger noted.

Residents, business leaders and public officials helped woo JetBlue to Worcester with a huge outpourings of support this year and last. At the business expo, Mr. Barger received a standing ovation even before he began his speech, and was presented with a blue cake afterward.

Massport CEO Thomas P. Glynn told the Telegram & Gazette that Mr. Barger's visit to the city was a positive sign. "He doesn't go to a lot of these," Mr. Glynn said. "The fact that he's here personally means they're leaning in to make it a success."

JetBlue's chief executive was the third keynote speaker at the expo, which was hosted by the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce and included more than 100 local companies exhibiting on the floor of the DCU Center, trying to spread the word about their businesses through fliers and free candy.

The morning speaker was also a businessman, but his presentation was very different from the typical executive's speech. John Jacobs, co-founder and chief creative optimist at the Life is good company, warmed up the audience by tossing Frisbees, then told the crowd to embrace optimism.

Boston-based Life is good has grown over the past two decades and now sells T-shirts, accessories, stationery and more at thousands of retailers and online. The company gives 10 percent of its profits to children in need.

Life is good became successful because Mr. Jacobs and his brother and business partner Bert were open to feedback, he said. When they realized people really liked one particular T-shirt design, of a smiling man they call Jake, they made more of those shirts. And then they made shirts that showed Jake playing a guitar, riding a bike and rowing a boat -- all with a big smile. Jake was a hit.

"Good times, bad times, people want to gravitate to something positive," he said.

Positivity was scarcer during the lunch presentation, when former U.S. Sen. William "Mo" Cowan took the podium to talk about the gridlock in Washington that led to a federal government shutdown this week. Mr. Cowan served for six months after John F. Kerry left the Senate to become U.S. secretary of state.

"I'm concerned that this is the new norm for congressional governance," he said, adding, "Every day we're not moving the country forward, we're moving backward."